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Just weeks after I made the decision that put me “over the hump” in my learning the Romanian language, the pastor in the village I was working in announced to the church that I would preaching in Romanian the next Sunday. Of course, he made the announcement without consulting me first (the Romanian way!).

The church members were excited. Everyone congratulated me and told me they couldn’t wait to hear my first Romanian sermon. So I decided to give it a try. It wasn’t that I was afraid to speak in Romanian in front of the church or to freely converse outside with the members. By this point, I was fairly fluent. What held me back from preaching was a respect for the pulpit.

How could I risk making grammatical mistakes as I preached the Word of God?

Wouldn’t that hinder the Gospel, making the listeners laugh or distracting them from the message?

By this time, though, my sincere respect for the pulpit had turned into an excuse. Indeed, I feared making mistakes in delivering a sermon in Romanian.

But was this truly because I believed the message could be hindered?

Or was it because I didn’t want to be embarrassed and seen as weak?

It was probably a matter of both. Though I had mixed emotions, I agreed to try preaching in Romanian. My opportunities to preach had been limited that Spring anyway. The village pastor had given me a “take it or leave it” offer. Either in Romanian, or not at all! So I took the plunge.

That week, I prepared for my first Romanian message. On Monday, I typed out the sermon in English. A friend of mine came over and devoted the whole day to helping me translate it. Then, we printed the sermon so I could begin going over it, memorizing the phrasing, making sure I understood the message in Romanian.

Knowing that I would have the message printed out on paper eased my nervousness, since I would not be able to lose my train of thought. I also knew that having the entire Romanian sermon printed out would help me avoid any unnecessary mistakes that would hinder the message. Still, I did not want to read my sermon. Writing it out was one thing. Reading it word for word might have been boring. So, during the days leading up to the big event, I practiced saying my sermon in Romanian at least twenty times. By the time I left for the village that weekend, I knew it backwards and forwards and could deliver it freely.

On Saturday, I went to the small village church building and preached the message to the walls! My purpose in doing this was to make sure that my pronunciation was correct and that the words came fluently.

Finally, on Sunday, for the first time, I delivered a sermon totally in Romanian. The feedback from the church people was encouraging, and I was happy to know that I had been able to preach in Romanian. From that point on, I never again preached in English while in Romania. Every sermon in Romania was in Romanian.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

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